YarraBUG Chris, Faith, Val and Steve

Faith and Val are joined in the studio on a glorious autumn monring by Alsion McCormack, CEO of Bicycle Network. We all share our bike moments before taking a look at some recent news including: Bicycle Network's changed position on Australia helmet laws, a Moonee BUG campaign to improve the movement of riders and pedestrians at Flemington Station and the last chance to speak at the City of Port Phillip meeting in support of the Inkerman Street protected bike lanes. Alison fills us in on the campaign Bicycle Network are running to advocate for better support for people wanting to buy e-bikes from all three tiers of government. The campaign was launched last month with an eBike Expo that saw hundreds of people testing out ebikes of all shapes and sizes. Ebikes have the capacity to transform how people move around, all while providing cost-of-living relief, significant health benefits and improving road safety and congestion. We talk about some of the subsidies that already exist in Australia and how listeners can get involved. You can also download a booklet with all the facts and figures here.  Radiothon is coming up and we need to raise funds to help keep 3CR Radical Radio on the air! Every little bit helps so if you can make a donation to help keep weekly cycling stories on the. airwaves pleade do! It's easy, check it out here. (And be sure to type "Yarra BUG Radio Show" at the prompt for which programme you want to support)   

On this weeks program Chris catches up with Cate Hall from Safer Walking and Riding for Murray Road (SWARM) about their campaigns recent activities, including extensive media coverage (Herald Sun: The busy Melbourne road students fear, The Age: It’s one of the most notorious roads in Melbourne. Fixing it is a ‘matter of life and death’, residents say, ABC Victoria: Speed review among recommendations to make Victorian roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists) in the light of the tabling of the Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee: Inquiry into the impact of road safety behaviours on vulnerable road usersTopics include the inquiries 61 findings and 56 recommendations, Drivers need to change to protect most vulnerable, Victorian Cycling Strategy 2019-2028 having no action plan (!), increasing infrastructure in London and Paris boosting cycling participation and micromobility. Local news includes Jetnikoff Bicycle Co. Garage Sale, Yarra 30kmh speed zones, Brunswick Tool Library looking for a volunteer bike repairers, and Streets Alive Darebin meet up.Program musicTrue Love Always, Bicycle RiderBonobo, Flashlightfilous feat. Klei. Bicycle

Faith and Val are joined in the studio by Andrew Talati of Bunchrides and we all share our bike moments before briefly looking. at City of Melbourne news on bike lanes. Andrew, whose Bunchrides platform ran Neighbourly Rides in the past, explains how it can now be used to help communities around schools run bike busses. We talk about what a bike bus is, examples elsewhere like the bicibus in Barcelona and Canberra's Bike Bus, and the issues that need to be addressed to give families and volunteers the confidence to run or use a bike bus to their local school or other community detsination. With two local Council's interested Andrew is looking forward to facilitating bike busses across Melbourne. If your school or your local Council might be interetesed in finding out more you can get in touch with Andrew at andrew@bunchrides.com 

On this weeks program Chris chats to Rik Isaksen about his journey around the cycling universe and his Battery Acid Sound System project. We chat about grassroots events, Bike Rave Melbourne, bike sound systems, audio tech, bike trailers, Dom Whiting, Carry Shit Olympics and getting started either carrying stuff and cargobikes (facebook: Melbourne Cargobikes, Cargobikes Australia)Local news includes Australia's biggest city has a car problem. What should Melbourne do to fix it? that overlooks active transport provision and potential, Future Melbourne (City of Melbourne) meeting, that includes Cycling and Micromobility Infrastructure Program (Item 6.3) on the agenda, where you can make a written submission or register to attend. Please do so by Tuesday 10am 23 April 2024 at the previous link.And not forgetting Critical Mass CBD ride this Friday 26 April 2024, meet 5.30pm for 6pm start, highlighting the good (seperated bike lanes) and bad (still to be built seperated bike lanes) cycling infrastructureProgram musicShonen Knife, Cycling is funAutechre, Bike

 Faith and Val are joined in the studio today by Nick Richardson, from Banksia Gardens Community Services to tell us all about Broady Bikes. First we all share our bike moments. and Val's leads us nicely into our first item of news about the very succesful E-bike Expo held by Bicycle Network last week.We also mention the three consultations in Merri-bek at the moment, of interest to anyone who lives, works or plays and rides through there; Harding St Bridge, O'Hea St Bike Lane Extension and Victoria Streets For People  Brunswick. Make sure you take a look!Coming up this weekend is a day for focussing on active transport in Moonee Valley Walk.Ride.Moonee Valley hosted by Moonee BUG and Moonee Valley Sustainability.Featuring:+ Towards Better Streets - panel and Q&A+ Info on infrastructure for cycling and walking+ Bike repairs advice+ Explore e-bikes and cargo bikes+ Join Moonee BUG for a group rideMeet your neighbours and people from Better Streets campaign, Streets Alive, your local Bicycle Users Group (MooneeBUG), local businesses and MVS’s Active Transport Collective.Nick tells us all about the Broady Bikes initiative at Banksia Gardens, set up to give disadvantaged youth an opportunity to practice the sorts of skills that enable holding down a job while learning how to work on and fix bicycles. Providing broader as well as mechanical skills the program also provides engagement with education services and the wider community. Repaired bicycles are sold or provided to people in the local community that can use them. If you have a good quality bicycle to donate then please contact Nick on 0418436269  or at  nick@banksiagardens.org.au. Unoftunately, many cheaper bicycles from stores such as KMART etc cannot be repaired and are not suitable for donation. 

On this weeks program Chris and Steve have a wide ranging chat with topics including Jeremy Vine's extraordinarily obvious April Fools day joke, the ridiculous over the top reaction, combined with differences between UK and France about active transport provision, (Guardian: Why has the ‘15-minute city’ taken off in Paris but become a controversial idea in the UK?) that being hostile 'culture wars' vs. a reasonable level of discussion, City Nerd: Cities Where People Travel the "Wrong Way" to Work, 15 minute cities, 20 minute neighbourhoods, what's happened in post Covid19 civil society and what this means for advocates and anyone else wanting safer streets. Local news includes E-scooter trial extended across Victoria, Walk Ride Moonee Valley meeting on 20 April, Protected bike lanes for Johnston Street petition hitting 2000 signatures and Critical Mass CBD ride coming up on Friday 26 April Program musicShonen Knife, Cycling is funBonobo, Linked